Bloomberg reports, citing people familiar with the matter
- Positions were closer on areas including energy and agriculture
- Some disagreements remain on structural issues
- Those issues need to be addressed when more senior negotiators meet later on
It feels like they've made some minor progress and as mentioned earlier, the bar is set very low for markets expecting good news. From the surface of things, that should be a positive for markets. However, considering that there are bigger issues to tackle, I reckon it's hard to see much of a massive extension in the risk rally from the meeting here.
Right now, both parties are looking to consolidate and work on an official communique so that we don't get a repeat of the misinformation after the Trump-Xi meeting at the end of last year. I believe that will still provide some optimistic hope for risk assets in the near-term but any gains will continue to be dogged by cautious tones surrounding worries on global growth and skepticism that a trade deal is just around the corner.
In short, we may get to see a bit more of a squeeze higher in risk assets but don't expect the party to go uninterrupted as long as there are lingering issues left unresolved.
